Co-director @TheWaterDesk at the University of Colorado Boulder and author of snow.news @snownewsnow, a free newsletter on snow, climate, and water.
Joined December 2008
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881 Photos and videos
Mitch Tobin retweeted
Apr 23
Late-season storms brought much-needed moisture to parts of the West, but they didn’t come close to erasing the deficit.
New at snow.news: update on snow drought and remembering my dad, who helped inspire my love of journalism and weather.
snow.news/p/snow-drought-upd…
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Apr 1
April 1 is a key milestone for the West’s snowpack.
This year’s data paint a disturbing portrait of the historic snow drought.
Eight states are at record lows for snow water equivalent.
My latest post at snow.news:
snow.news/p/snowpack-april-1…
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Mitch Tobin retweeted
Mar 26
When the West’s snowpack is meager—or entirely missing—it underscores how much we depend on this seasonal accumulation of ice crystals, even during the summer and far beyond the region.
snow.news/p/missing-snowpack…
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Feb 5
More grim news about the West's snow drought:
🛰️ Lowest Feb. 1 snow cover in the satellite record (since 2001)
📉 Record-low Feb. 1 snowpack in Oregon, Colorado, and Utah
⚠️ “A Dry, Warm January Leaves the West With the Worst Snowpack in Decades”
drought.gov/drought-status-u…
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Mitch Tobin retweeted
Feb 5
The American West’s snowpack is valuable for many reasons, but can its worth be calculated in dollars and cents? And how is climate change affecting that value? #cawater mavensnotebook.com/2026/02/0…
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Feb 4
I summarized 5 scientific studies that examine how climate change is reshaping the Winter Olympics.
New post at snow.news also includes an update on the West’s meager snowpack.
snow.news/p/winter-olympics-…
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Jan 29
NASA: Western U.S. snow cover is tracking at record-low levels for January, based on satellite observations dating back to 2001.
science.nasa.gov/earth/earth…
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Jan 6
A recent study argues for monitoring the West’s snowpack at strategic hotspots—rather than mapping entire basins—but it has sparked pushback from supporters of airborne snow monitoring.
My latest for The Water Desk unpacks the science and implications:
waterdesk.org/2025/12/scient…
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Mitch Tobin retweeted
4 Dec 2025
The American West could sure use some snow.
The snowpack in seven states is below 50% of normal.
It's still early in the season, but there's a lot of catching up to do.
More details at snow.news:
snow.news/p/grim-western-sno…
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Mitch Tobin retweeted
6 Apr 2024
#Snowpack in the west is key for downstream water sources, but the region's supply is vulnerable to #ClimateChange. Check out this visual explainer from @MitchTobin for @TheWaterDesk: waterdesk.org/2024/04/nation…
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“The changes to #snow and snowpack are changes that we have more confidence in than just about any other water parameter because of the direct effect of warming on snowpack and snow precipitation,” says WWA Water Resources Specialist, Liz Payton. #climate waterdesk.org/2024/04/nation…
ALT The Arkansas River and Sawatch Range near Leadville, Colorado, in March 2021. Photo by Mitch Tobin/The Water Desk.
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Mitch Tobin retweeted
2 Apr 2024
Snow water resources and water security are threatened by climate change. Check out this article by @TheWaterDesk, which summarizes and contextualizes the present-day and future climate impacts on Western US water from our Water Chapter in #NCA5.
waterdesk.org/2024/04/nation…
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Mitch Tobin retweeted
1 Feb 2024
New post at snow.news explores atmospheric rivers and explains why they can be both helpful and harmful.
Scientists expect climate change will intensify these far-reaching weather events.
snow.news/p/why-atmospheric-… #cawx #snowpack #flooding #AtmosphericRiver
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Mitch Tobin from @snownewsnow highlighted our Intermountain West Climate Dashboard!
"My favorite sites for tracking snow and the (subpar) snowpack." snow.news/p/my-favorite-site…
#climate #weather #water #precipitation #temperature #snow #streamflow #drought #sciencecommunication
ALT Photo credit: Mitch Tobin, Snow News
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16 Jan 2024
The West's snowpack is looking better thanks to recent storms, but many basins are still below the median for snow water equivalent.
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Mitch Tobin retweeted
12 Dec 2023
New post at snow.news explores the Winter Storm Severity Index, a helpful forecast that visualizes where snow, ice, and wind are expected to cause problems.
snow.news/p/winter-storm-sev… #wxtwitter #skiing #snowboarding #snowpack
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Mitch Tobin retweeted
7 Dec 2023
First 2023-24 Snow Drought Update
Snow drought is most prevalent in the N. Rockies, Sierra Nevada, and parts of the Lower CO and Rio Grande River Basins.
Storms have benefitted the Northwest and Great Basin, but warm snow drought is a concern.
drought.gov/drought-status-u… @NOAA
ALT Snow Telemetry (SNOTEL) snow water equivalent (SWE) values for watersheds in the western U.S. as a percentage of the 1991–2020 median recorded by the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service.. Only stations with at least 20 years of data are included in the station averages. The SWE percentage of normal, in this figure and in the text, represents the current SWE at selected SNOTEL stations in or near the basin compared to the median value for those stations on the same date from 1991-2020. This map is valid as of December 3, 2023.
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Mitch Tobin retweeted
5 Dec 2023
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Let's talk snowpack! Our recent storm was very beneficial, and an example of why early season snowpack numbers (particularly % of Median) should be taken with a grain of salt.
This plot shows data for the CO Headwaters basin (encompasses Grand & Summit Counties). #COwx
ALT Graph showing the change in Snow Water Equivalent, or snowpack, over time, overlayed with median and maximum/minimum values. The graph shows this season's trace approaching the median values for this date after our recent storm. The graph also shows the mean peak in SWE values, which occurs in mid to late April.
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